


The Night Richie Tozier Almost Died

by kissbrack



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Aged-Up Losers Club (IT), Beverly Marsh & Richie Tozier Are Best Friends, House Party, M/M, Near Death Experiences, Richie Tozier Has ADHD, Richie Tozier Has a Crush, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Swearing, bev and stan are supporting friends, underage drinking if you are from the us
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:07:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24231823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kissbrack/pseuds/kissbrack
Summary: In an attempt to cheer up Bev, Richie takes her and Stan to the roof during a house-party and things get Emotional.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Kudos: 51





	The Night Richie Tozier Almost Died

**Author's Note:**

> hello! this is a repost from my tumblr account and it has not been proofread since 2017 + english is not my first language so excuse any msitakes :)

At exactly 1:47 a.m. of a very warm May Friday night, Richie Tozier almost died.

And while he loved to tell the story in such a dramatic way, starting it with the sentence, _hey guys remember the party I almost died?_ the events didn’t happen in such manner.

The whole ordeal started when he saw his best friend, Beverly Marsh, crying on the kitchen floor of some kid that didn’t even like him or his friends. To be completely honest, they had crashed the party, since that is the only way they had managed to get in any the past year.

The girl wasn’t bawling, but Richie knew her enough to know when something wasn't entirely okay with his fiery partner in crime.

“Bev, hey Bev, you okay there?” he asked, crouching so he could meet her eyes. Her face was buried on her hands, and despite the havoc wrecking around them, Richie could hear her sobbing.

“Beverly” he insisted, grabbing her hands gently. The girl looked at him with her translucent blue eyes, red-tinted and stained with black eyeliner “Hey, hey, Bevvie, girl, dude, buddy, you okay?”.

“Yeah, yeah” she mutters “It’s just, I was with Stan and he left to get… I don’t even fucking remember where he went… And I was alone and Greta and her fucking bitches came up to me and, shit, I know I shouldn’t let them get to me, but they were saying awful things about you guys too and I just-”.

“Hey, Marsh, list- no listen” Richie interrupted the nervous blabbering of his friend “I know it fucking sucks letting Greta get to you, but don’t worry, you can’t help it if she’s a dumbass”.

Bev chuckled and freed one of her hands to wipe the tears from her eyes, smearing the black eyeliner even more, yet smiling.

“Tell you what, I brought my mom’s flask, wanna find Stan, sneak onto the roof, take some shots and talk some shit about them?” he asked with a half-smile.

“You always know the way to my heart Trashmouth” Bev chuckled.

“Then let's go find Uris, Marshmallow” he said, standing up and offering the girl his hand.

Bev rolled her eyes at the nickname, but smiled and took it.

* * *

"Fucking top that Uris!".

Bev had downed her fourth shot and looked straight into Stan's eyes. She drunk-giggled as she dropped onto the roof, sprawled, next to Richie.

"Way to fucking go Marsh!" the Trashmouth cheered, putting his arm around her shoulders and clearly not in a better state than the girl. He was the one who had taken the most shots out of the three of them, but, in Stan's words 'it isn't fun if you aren't a shitty lightweight like me'.

"Gimme that Beverly" Stan snatched the flask, halfway through already, and took a long sip. The rum burned his throat but he didn't care. "Also bold of you to assume I have ever topped anything".

The comment left the other two roaring with laughter. The roof creaked under them, the awful music of the party leaking from underneath.

"So" Bev started after catching her breath "who are we dissing tonight?".

It was very common for the three of them, whenever they hanged out to gossip and complain about all the people who either bullied them or were straight up dumbasses at Derry High School. And the list wasn't by any means short. Granted, gossiping wasn't the purest of activities, but when you put it against the daily social torture that was being the social outcasts in a close-minded town, they were allowed to have some fun.

"Oh my god let me start," Stan said, sitting cross-legged gracefully in front of his friends. Richie was surprised his friend still had that panache and flourished movements even when drunk.

"Spill! Spill! Spill!" Bev chanted her face all smiles and giggles. Richie was glad she wasn't crying anymore, he didn’t like it when she had to go through stuff like that by herself.

"Remember Tommy whatshisname? Big dude, baseball team, blond hair?".

"Larson?" Richie asked

"Straight as a nail?" Bev added.

Stan snapped his fingers "Bingo. Well, guess who Bill caught staring at his ass last practice?".

"Oh my god," Bev laughed, almost delighted "Oh my God! Shut up".

"No fucking way" Richie exclaimed, joining the fit of laughter of the girl.

"Are you sure that Bill wasn't imagining things?" Bev asked, her words slurring.

"Who the fuck said I was done, Beverly?" Stan smirked at his two friends.

"Drop the full name Stanley" she bit back. He winked at her.

"I also told Bill that he might be imagining things. I mean" he scoffed "you are in a locker room, it's a small space, full of boys, changing clothes, showering, ..." he drifted off, a light blush creeping on his cheeks.

"Uris! Focus!" Richie exclaimed, snapping his fingers and bringing him back to the real world “Holy fucking shit, I forgot how gay you get thinking about the baseball team".

"Not the whole baseball team" Bev smirked.

“Shut the fuck up you asshats” Stan brushed them off, but the blush from his face didn’t fade.

“Oh my god Rich, he’s blushing a fuck lot”.

“He indeed is my fair lady” the Trashmouth laughed, his fake cockney accent coming out slurred and disastrous.

“Whatever, I won’t tell you the end of the story then” Stan mumbled, “It kinda concerns you, Tozier”.

“Please tell me Larson asked for Richie’s number” Bev smiled widely.

Richie started to laugh, rolling on his side, his body approaching the edge of the roof precariously.

“I mean” Bev liked the little devious smile on Stan's face as he talked, “he asked Bill for a number, but not Richie’s”

The other boy lifted his head to look at his friend in the eyes, but before the Trashmouth could ask anything, Stan spoke.

“He asked for Eddie’s”.

Everything happened quite fast. One moment Richie was laying on the roof and the next he was standing up. Sort of. The alcohol had paid his toll on him and although he managed to get on his feet at the speed of light, he lost his balance and tilted back over the edge of the roof. His stomach flipped as he felt gravity pulling him backward, but thankfully, two pairs of hands fell on him, Bev’s at his knees and Stan’s grabbing his hoodie.

“Fucking ass!” Stan bellowed, pulling him forward.

Richie fell on top of the other boy, and both of them stumbled onto Bev, forming a very awkward pile.

“Tozier what the actual fuck!” Stan exclaimed.

“Holy shit don’t need to scream on my ear Uris”.

“You deserve it! For being a clumsy asshat!”.

“Richie what the hell! You could’ve fallen off the fucking roof”. Bev said, shoving the two boys off of her.

“Yeah, dude, what’s gotten into you?” Stan asked, knowing the answer already.

Richie dumbly opened his mouth, closed it, and opened again, but he was unable to give a direct answer.

“Did Bill gave Tommy Eddie’s number?” Richie asked innocently. Was the night getting hotter or it was just him?

“Tozier, your crush is showing” Bev laughed, her worried expression long gone.

“What?! Me? A crush? On Eddie Spaghetti out of all people?” he scoffed, the red tint of his cheeks becoming more prominent. Yep, definitely just him. “What are you blabbering about? I don’t have a crush on him? Why would I?”.

Bev and Stan gave Richie amused looks as he sputtered a cascade of excuses, but he realized his attempts to deny his feelings towards the hypochondriac were fruitless. He groaned and dropped on the roof, still too close to the edge.

“C’mon Rich, you seriously can’t believe that we, out of all the Losers, wouldn’t notice,” Bev said rolling her eyes.

“Not like the rest haven’t figured it out” Stan muttered. Bev smacked him in the back of the head “Jeez Bev”.

“And here I thought I was being sneaky” Richie sighed.

“Yeeeeah, people usually don’t gush about their best friend like you do” Stan laughed.

“Or look at him from the distance like he has hung all the stars in the sky” Bev added.

“Or sigh oh-so-dreamy in class staring at him”.

“Or, you know, stare at his ass like all the time”.

“Or…”

“Okay!” Richie exclaimed, “Holy fuck guys you make me sound like I am in love with him or something”.

There was a heavy pause, Stan and Bev staring at him brow arched.

“Whatever! So what, I think Eds is cute! Fucking sue me!” he exclaimed, “Not that it matters honestly”.

“What do you mean Rich?” Bev asked.

“It’s just” he started, but groaned again, words getting stuck on his throat “Ugh! It’s nothing Bev, it’s shit, it doesn’t matter”.

Stan and the girl stared at their friend. The moment would’ve been full of uncomfortable silence if it wasn’t for the muted laughter and ridiculously loud music from the party. Without saying a word, Bev crawled towards her friend, her movements slow and clumsy from the alcohol, and lied next to him. Stan looked at them before doing the same.

“You can talk to us Rich, ya know that right?” Bev spoke softly, making Richie smile. He held her hand and she squeezed it reassuringly.

“Yeah, what Marsh said” Stan added, grabbing awkwardly the boy’s free hand. The Trashmouth half-scoffed half-laughed. He knew Stan spoke more through actions than words.

“I know guys it’s just…” he drifted again, the knot of his throat growing “I really like him”.

“Yeah, no shit” he practically could hear the eye-roll on Stans comment “Ouch! No need for kicking Marsh”.

“Zip it Uris,” she said “If you like him, tell him Rich” her tone softened and gave Richie another reassuring squeeze.

“That’s fucking easier said than done Bev” the boy sighed “He might, and he’ll probably, say no anyway”.

“Why would he say no dumbass?” Stan asked.

“Because I’m shit! Because I don’t know, he can fucking do way better than the shitty no-good school punk!” he rambled, unable to stop “Someone with better parents and better grades and better plans for the future and clothes that aren’t ripped at every goddamn seam! Like, have you seen my jeans lately? They’re motherfucking trash! It’s embarrassing to wear them to school”.

His voice broke the more he talked, and both Bev and Stan decided to ignore the half-sob that was forming of their friend’s voice.

“I’m like, white trash, and he deserves someone that has more than love to offer” he croaked, feeling truly pathetic.

It happened suddenly and Richie felt even more like crying. Both Stan and Bev wrapped their arms as best they could around him and held on tight. They stood there for a couple of minutes, feeling the vibrations from downstairs rumble on their backs.

“Never” Stan's voice broke the silence “Like, fucking ever, say that about yourself. I will beat you to fucking pieces with my binoculars if I ever hear you’re talking shit about yourself, Richard Tozier”.

Richie chuckled, and more tears threatened to come out of his eyes. Hell, his glasses were already fogged, but he didn’t want to let go of his friends to clean them.

“Yeah” Bev muttered, sniffling “What Uris said”.

“Oh my god Bevvie, don’t cry,” Richie said, “If you cry imma start crying too”.

“Jesus fuck, we are getting way too emotional for being the stone-cold bitches of this godforsaken town”.

“You are the only one of us that looks like you’ve got a stick up your ass Uris” Bev joked.

“I bet he wished he had another thing up his ass” Richie added.

“And here I was, reassuring you and you pay me back by being a dick” Stan muttered.

They broke into light laugher again, the three of them teary-eyed and holding onto each other as if their life depended on it. Lying there, Richie breathed every single aspect he could from that moment. Like the way Bev drew small circles on his knuckles. Or how Stan was still holding tightly to his hoodie as if he was going to fall again off the roof. The way their feet intertwined, polished shoes, beat-up sneakers, and combat boots mixed together. The faded stars he could see through his misty glasses. How Stan’s curls tickled him on the cheek, the same way Bev’s breathing did on the nape of his neck. He felt like time itself had stopped.

“Rich” Bev softly spoke.

“Yeah Marsh?” he asked

“Ask Eddie out”.

“But-”.

“No but’s asshat” Stan scoffed “just do it”.

“But-”.

“I said no but’s!”.

“-what if he says no?”.

Kinda unlikely Bev wanted to say.

“Then he loses the best dumbass in Derry”.

“Jeez, thanks Stan”.

“No prob”.

Richie laughs, holding them even a little bit tighter.

“Guys” Bev interjects “I don’t want to break The Moment, but we are literally an inch away from falling off the roof”.

The boys laughed and moved away from the edge.


End file.
